A Memory of Within
by GothicDJ
Summary: Just a small story on my POV of the falling of the tower in the Sector Seven slums. A Cloud and Jessie coupling that's I'll probably never elaborate on but it was fun to write.


A Memory of Within

By GothicDJ

Final Fantasy VII

One shot~

             I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Sadly, Squaresoft owns it and has for quite a long time. As a matter of fact. they *still* own it. Such a good game, though. I wonder if they would let me have it for a while. just to get some kind of profits. ^^ Also, this isn't really how I think about the game; I just need to twist some facts to make this work. I actually think that Cloud and Tifa go the best together ^^. that is, if you don't count yaoi couplings. Then the possibilities are endless.

On to the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Cloud stood outside of Midgar, Sector Seven, emotions not really registering on his face. It was as if he was a soulless vessel just standing there, being manipulated by some greater force. 

'She's gone.' He tried to tell himself. It was over, Jessie was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. He hadn't cried, and that's what worried everyone the most. Biggs and Wedge were two of his closest friends..but Jessie..she was something more. 

         From the moment he joined the rebel group AVALANCHE, he knew that there was some kind of force bringing them together. She would explain the workings of the group as well as always lend an ear when he had a problem, vice versa. Everyone in the group knew that they were perfect together. He was the strong, brave ex-SOLDIER First Class who feared nothing and needed nothing more than a good friend. She was the cute and friendly tomboyish technician who fit in with the group like anyone else. She was the one person, besides Tifa, that Cloud could unwind with; let his guard down and be a regular person. Tifa gave him that freedom as well, but for her it was more of a sisterly love than anything else. He had made that promise to her with the love of an older brother. Nothing more. They had grown up too close for him to ever see her that way. He would do anything for Tifa except fall in love with her. Jessie, though, was another story. She wasn't off limits to anything and she was very gentle with him. Not only did Cloud have battle scars, but incredible emotional ones that left a heavy burden on his shoulders. Jessie helped him with this in more ways that even he could comprehend. She was his first date, his first kiss, and his first and most important love, and nothing, not even the supernatural force that took her away, could change that. 

           Tifa touched Cloud's shoulder lightly to try and get him out of his reverie. He had been standing outside of Midgar, Sector Seven, looking up at where the tower used to be with a pained expression on his face. He flinched slightly to her touch and shrugged her away. Tifa then knew that there was no way she could get his attention at this point. No matter how she wanted to be the center of his affection, it would always be reserved for Jessie. Walking away, she motioned slightly for Barret to have a try and getting the Mako-enriched boy to move somewhat. Barret, not wanting to seem weak when he was supposed to be strong, wiped away his tears. Yes, he, Barret Wallace, had cried. And he had good reason to have. His closest friends Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge were all de-somewhere else right now. 

                Barrett laid his good hand on Cloud's shoulder, noticing that Cloud didn't even move this time. 

"Cloud, you standin' here ain't gonna do nuttin' ta bring them back. You doin' nuttin' ain't gonna help them, no way no how. They ain't dead, they just somewhere else right now, lookin' down on us, and 'elpin' us finish dis mission. You here that, Strife, they ain't gone and you gonna see them again, just not today. But ya won't make them happy if you  gonna let them down by givin' up like dis. Get up, boy, and face it like a man. It's gonna be a happy future and you gonna make 'er really happy if you help us SMASH ShinRa." Barret, with nothing more, gave Cloud's shoulder an affectionate pat before walking away. 

         It took a while for Barrett's words to sink in, the same sentence going through his head 

 "You here that, Strife, they ain't gone and you gonna see them again, just not today. But ya won't make them happy if you gonna let them down by givin' up like dis."

 Everyone was just staring at Cloud, and had been for a while. They had all gotten themselves together and they knew what they had to do, and now they were just waiting for Cloud to realize his destiny as well. There was a pregnant silence as Cloud slowly turned around, still no tears in his eyes, yet firm resolution in their place. 

     "What the hell are we still doing in Midgar? Were going to get out of here and KICK SOME SHINRA ASS!!" He swung the Buster Sword in the air for emphasis and everyone cheered. Aeris, ever caring and gentle Aeris, came up to Cloud and stood in front of him. The ancient looked deep into his eyes before closing her eyes and smiling lightly.

    "We're all behind you, Cloud, and we always will be. I just want you to remember that." She finished by giving the ex-SOLDIER a small hug and returning to the group. Tifa and Barret gave reassuring smiles to tell him that they were right in line next to Aeris. 

          Cloud, seemingly getting his usual stride back, sheathed the Buster Sword and began to walk out of Midgar when Jessie's last words came to him.

  "Cloud, when we blew up the reactor.. we killed so... many people... maybe this.. is our punishment.."

   Cloud shook his head, disagreeing with the thought in his head.

             'No, Jessie. This isn't our punishment. This is our destiny. I pray to see you in another life.....' 

 And with that, he and the rest of the proud group of AVALANCHE walked out of Midgar to complete their journey.

 'This is our destiny.' 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sigh, I just remember starting the game and thinking Jessie was so cool *I'm not sure what gender Biggs was so I tried to keep that area foggy*. I kept thinking that Cloud and Jessie would be perfect together since they were both in AVALANCHE and they got along so well. Well..I can tell you I was very shocked when I saw her dying. I cried....a lot...but this is just one of those games that starts the water works. I'm not done yet *still on the first CD, how sad* but this one part kept sticking out in my mind so I had to write this. Hope ya'll liked it. AVALANCHE IS BORN AGAIN!! Also, this story would have been a lot more powerful if I had gotten my italics to work. ^^;;;;;;

**Edit:** I saw this story and I was like.. " I have to revise this." So I did. I hope it's a bit better than before. There were a lot of spelling mistakes and stuff that I cleaned up. Not to mention some jagged areas in my writing. All in all, for something I did so long ago, I'm proud of it. XD

**I don't know why my italics aren't working. 'tis not cool.**


End file.
